A New Invention
by TheBFG
Summary: The automaton is returned to its maker and Hugo has moved in with Isabelle and her godparents. He continues to wind the clocks, and Papa Georges kept the toy booth open. Hugo and Isabelle look for a new adventure, and they find what just might provide it.
1. Chapter 1: The Magician

A New Invention

Chapter 1: The Magician

It was morning, and Hugo weaved through the bustling crowd at the train station. He had a new magic trick figured out, all by himself- of course, he was Professor Alcofrisbas, and magic tricks should be quite simple to him. Still, he was rather pleased with himself, and he set off to find Isabelle to show her this new trick.

It'd been a month since Hugo had given his first public magic performance as the professor, and he was living with Isabelle and her godparents. Of course, he kept his daily job of winding the clocks, and Isabelle would come with him. Sometimes, he felt slightly annoyed when she would simply open up a volume of Sherlock Holmes as he sweated and wound the many clocks in the station. However, she read aloud, and Hugo enjoyed hearing the stories Isabelle had chosen on her frequent trips to the bookstore. He didn't bother complaining, since this was how he'd done it before he met Isabelle anyway. At least there's a bit of entertainment as he worked now.

Papa Georges still kept his toy booth open, and he'd started making little toys based off of the eccentric, colorful characters in his film. Children and adults alike all went to the booth and it became a common destination for tourists. Whenever Hugo passed by, Papa Georges asked him if he could also sit behind the desk for a while and help him out. The booth had been expanded, and there were multiple lines waiting to get their hands on one of Méliès' accessories for _A Trip to the Moon_. Every time, Hugo would pick up a small contraption with the man on the moon and a rocket zooming straight into its right eye. Then, a minute later, a person would ask for the item, saying that it was the last one available.

"Greetings, Monsieur… Cabret," a voice said as Hugo emerged from the large throng of people. Hugo looked up.

It was the Station Inspector with his dog, Maximilian, right by his side. His leg brace had been updated so that it was quieter, more flexible, and (most of all) made the Inspector much friendlier.

"Hello," Hugo said hesitantly. His first instinct had been to run, but he reminded himself that he was no longer alone. He had guardians and a friend- the Station Inspector had no right to chase him and lock him up. Max was rather obedient lately, so he probably realized that too.

"Where's Christina Rossetti?" the Inspector asked.

"What?" Hugo said, confused.

"Christina Rossetti," the Station Inspector repeated. "Rossetti… you know, the poetry girl."

"You mean Isabelle?" Hugo said. The Station Inspector must've remembered the poem that Isabelle had recited to draw attention from Hugo. The poem was by Christina Rossetti.

Hugo was unsure of why he was having such a long conversation with the Inspector. It was a little strange for both people, since they were enemies a few months ago. "I haven't seen her."

"Check the toy booth," the Inspector suggested awkwardly. "She's probably helping out her- OY, YOU! YOU DIRTY LITTLE URCHIN, STAY WHERE YOU ARE!"

Hugo spun around as a filthy child grabbed someone's bag. He remembered the other orphan that'd stolen a paper bag and was locked up. The Inspector had shouted at him, "Is that your paper bag? IS THAT YOUR PAPER BAG?!"

Hugo had never seen that orphan since.

This orphan was quickly caught by the Inspector and Max, and the Station Inspector screamed the usual things. Hugo knew, though, that there would be hope for this orphan as the flower girl, Lisette, wandered over. The Inspector saw her, too, and let go of the orphan, quietly murmuring, "Stay there," and he walked off to meet Lisette. Max whined but he had to follow. The orphan, stunned at his luck, took a few seconds before dashing off.

Hugo grinned, turning around and heading to the toy booth. He had originally intended to go to the bookstore, but Isabelle had probably already been there- the clocks said that it was almost ten o' clock. Hugo reminded himself that as soon as he found Isabelle, they would go to what she called Hugo's "covert lair" and wind the clocks.

Isabelle was just leaving as Hugo arrived at the toy booth.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully. Her godfather was well again, of course, and that made her even happier than she was before.

"Hello," Hugo greeted her. "Do you want to make the trip around the clocks?"

"Okay," Isabelle said. She held up a book that she'd tucked under her arm. "There's a new book in the bookstore about Greek Mythology- I just got it!"

Clearly, Isabelle was as excited about her new book as Hugo was about his card trick. That's right, his card trick- he could show it to her when they entered the apartment that he used to live in. He still had an old pack of cards in there.

"I have a new card trick too," Hugo said. "Would you like to see it?"

"Oh, good," Isabelle said enthusiastically. "I would love to see it."

The children entered a vent on the side of a wall and walked through corridors, descending on a staircase, and sliding down a smooth, curved ramp. They arrived at a desk.

"That's where Papa Georges' automaton used to be," Isabelle remembered. Hugo recalled the many nights he spent trying to fix the mechanical man without the notebook. Much to his surprise, he had succeeded, allowing the machine to draw a picture that was originally by Papa Georges. The automaton is in Hugo's room in the apartment building that the Méliès family live in. Now, there was a dusty deck of cards.

The children moved over the desk. Hugo picked up the cards. With a swift motion, he made the cards look brand new, the dust disappearing. Isabelle clapped as Hugo prepared to do his new trick.

"Isabelle, please pick a card," Hugo said in a dramatic voice, as if he was performing at a theater. Isabelle picked a king of hearts. Hugo took the card back and put it into his free hand. Then, he threw it up into the air.

After a long time, the card finally descended from the ceiling. Hugo caught it, and said, "Was your card a king of hearts?"

Isabelle nodded. Hugo slowly took out the card that he caught. He turned it around- Isabelle's eyes grew wide.

The card was still a king of hearts.

Isabelle was confused, but she had no time to say anything, because Hugo flipped the card again, and the king of hearts was replaced by the queen of hearts.

"Bravo! _Quelles performances exceptionnelles_!" Isabelle laughed. Hugo grinned. And now, it was time to wind the 27 clocks in the station.

Hugo added drops of oil to the gears and shafts of the clocks as Isabelle buried her head in her new Greek mythology book. Hugo paused every so often to listen and comment.

"… Heracles stepped forward, unarmed and unprotected as he wrestled his hooded, dark opponent. Death was not ever conquered by any common mortal, but Heracles was not a normal mortal. The two mighty beings reeled and struggled, until Death felt Heracles' unmatched grip crack his ribs. Death surrendered, finally defeated, and returned to the shadows and Hades' palace in defeat." Isabelle closed the book and left a bookmark between the pages where she stopped reading.

"Is the last clock done?" she asked.

"Yes," Hugo answered, tired. He felt like Heracles after battling Death- exhausted, sore, and hungry. However, he felt happy that most of the clocks wouldn't need to be wound for a few days. "Let's go get some lunch."

Hugo was taught by Papa Georges about how to cash paychecks, and suddenly, Hugo was quite wealthy, as his deceased uncle's paychecks were all his. Some days, he would take Isabelle and occasionally Etienne, a kind boy older than Hugo with an eye patch, to the movies. Many of Papa Georges' movies were being rereleased, so Hugo and Isabelle made sure they saw every one of them.

Hugo bought three croissants, one for him, one for Isabelle, and one for Papa Georges because he was too busy to buy lunch for himself. After delivering a croissant to Papa Georges, the two sat down as a waitress served some warm French onion soup.

"Thank you," Isabelle said politely. She paid for the soup with a coin and turned her attention to Hugo. "So, what do we do after lunch?"

"We could take a stroll around," Hugo suggested. "Go to the movies, see a magic show… I'm sure Papa Georges has some ideas, we can ask him later."

The two children finished their croissants and soup, heading towards the toy booth again. To their surprise, they found a disappointed crowd in front of the shop, and Papa Georges was looking very distressed.

"Everything is sold out!" he muttered in Hugo's ear. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Maybe you can keep making toys."

"But if I keep making toys, what's going to keep the customers here?"

"You can leave that to me," Hugo answered confidently. He whispered his plan to Isabelle, and just as the people were beginning to leave, Isabelle called out, "Everyone, listen! Professor Alcofrisbas is making a performance right here at the toy booth! Come along, it's a free performance! Yes, that's right, gather around over there…"

Hugo took a deck of cards that looked like they weren't used for a few months, and he dusted them off with a flourish as usual. The crowd gasped, and Papa Georges smiled next to him, speedily making a windup rocket.

Hugo was glad that he'd studied over a hundred magic tricks with cards, and even more without. He made cards rise up and float back down. He made a paper airplane spin around about thirty times before it started to fall. He even made a toy appear out of thin air (which was curiously identical to the toy Papa Georges had just finished, though everyone's attention was on Hugo and they took no notice of this) and sold it to the first person in line. Meanwhile, Isabelle was directing more and more people to the toy booth.

After an hour of magic tricks, Hugo ran out of ideas. Fortunately, Papa Georges finally had enough toys to sell to the customers. He thanked Hugo and Isabelle and gave them a stack of coins.

"How about you spend an afternoon at the new museum that opened just down the street?" he suggested, smiling. Then he turned back to the customers and continued to sell accessories to eager customers.

Hugo led Isabelle through the sea of people and exited the train station through the double- doors into the warm, sunny street. It was summer, Hugo's favorite time of the year. Almost every day was an opportunity for adventure, but in the winter, the cold usually prevented Hugo from going outside.

"I see the museum, right down there!" Isabelle pointed to a large building of white marble.

When the children entered the building, they found that it was even larger than the Film Academy. Sunlight filtered through the roof of stained glass. The polished floor squeaked as many people walked across its gleaming surface. Hugo and Isabelle walked to the front desk and used the stack of coins Papa Georges gave them. The lady behind the desk accepted the coins, found some change, and said: "_Merci_… _Passez un bon moment!_"

As Hugo continued on to the exhibits, he thought, _Today's going to be a slightly different adventure!_


	2. Chapter 2: The Idea

Chapter 2: The Idea

Hugo walked through the museum, glancing at the documents and items on display. Isabelle followed him and looked even more enthusiastic, for this was a literature exhibit. It covered subjects worldwide, and many manuscripts had translations.

"Hugo, look," Isabelle beckoned her friend to come over. A tattered manuscript that was turning slightly yellow was enclosed in a glass case. "It's the original document of _Shakespeare's Sonnets_. Well, one of the few remaining, anyway."

"I found one of the stories by Jules Verne that my dad used to read to me," Hugo said. Isabelle walked over and saw "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea".

"Papa Georges made a film out of that!" Isabelle exclaimed.

"Maybe we can go see it today," Hugo said. "I heard it was one of the ones that were rereleased this month."

"Yeah," Isabelle agreed. "I saw that there was a machine exhibit. Do you want to see…?"

Hugo had bolted off to find directions to the machine exhibit. Isabelle followed him, grinning. She knew this was going to happen- Hugo gets crazy over machines all the time, just as she gets slightly on the… eccentric… side with books.

"Hugo!" she called.

No reply.

Curious about what had Hugo so distracted, Isabelle ran over to where Hugo was standing.

There was a row of beautifully crafted automata. Some were made to resemble humans, with hair, flesh- colored surfaces, and even dresses and jackets. Others were like Hugo's- elegant but quite colorless, yet still extremely lifelike. Isabelle noticed that in each caption there was the word "magician". She knew that was Hugo's dream, to become a professional magician. He already knew a lot of tricks, but there was one thing that he didn't have.

Hugo didn't have his own set of automata.

As Isabelle expected, Hugo turned to face her and said in a determined tone, "I need to build my own automata."

He explained that his father had always admired the clockmakers who became magicians. He himself had never had the chance, but Hugo felt that he could take his place. Automata were connected with horology, and Hugo needed to fulfill the dreams his father had before his untimely passing. Isabelle hadn't heard him speak in such a serious tone since he was convinced that the first automaton held a secret note for him from his father.

_It's surprising how fast one can realize their lifelong dreams,_ Isabelle thought wistfully, _while others spend their whole lifetime doing just that._

It was true for Isabelle. Before she met Hugo, she never thought about what she would do as an adult. She could live a simple life as a child, going to school, talking and dancing with her friends, and reading lots and lots of books. Yes, mounds of books. But she couldn't read books as a career, could she? No, she couldn't. She could write. Actually, she wrote her past adventures in a small notebook and put some illustrations in it. She found out that she had some talent in writing and drawing. She read books very enthusiastically- could a younger generation appreciate her work just as much? If so, it seemed quite enjoyable. Isabelle liked having her life revolving around books because literature was something she was extremely familiar with.

Suddenly, Isabelle realized they'd walked through the entire exhibit and it was time to leave. Hugo was already heading towards the exit. As they passed the front desk, the lady said, "_Au revoir!_"

"Bye," Hugo and Isabelle said back. They stepped through the glass double- doors and walked back to the station. People were starting to fill the streets- their work for the day was done. It was a few hours before the sun would set, so as the children had originally planned, they made a trip to the movies.

"What was the movie we wanted to see again?" Hugo asked, distracted.

"We need to find 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," Isabelle answered. They looked at several movie titles, and then they saw "_20000 lieues sous les mers"_.

"That's the one!" Isabelle said. She used the change from the museum and bought two tickets for the movie.

Hugo and Isabelle walked into a dark room filled with children and adults. A few commercials played and a short film about an astronomer (also directed by Papa Georges) was presented. The sound of the movie projector made Hugo snap out of his thoughts.

Rays of light were projected from the back of Hugo's head and onto a blank, white screen. The feature film was about to start.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was about an expedition to the bottom of the ocean. Many people in white uniforms stood by the vessel that was to travel to the bottom of the ocean. A few men filed into the submarine and it was released.

The vessel traveled through the ocean and was surrounded by fish and other creatures. Suddenly, the vessel landed on solid rock. The men were at the bottom of the ocean.

Hugo and Isabelle laughed as one man struggled to avoid hostile sea creatures, a fish trying to bite his right hand, and a crab trying to pinch his left. The man scampered over to a clearing full of plants, which attacked him whenever he came close. A lot of sea creatures closed in on him and he was trapped.

The man woke up from a dream. His head actually fell into a bucket of water while he was sleeping, and his friends pulled him up. He described his dream and the movie was over.

The audience clapped loudly and they exited through the door. Hugo's attention was back to the present, and he said: "That was one of the best movies I've ever seen!"

"Yes, the special effects were superlative!" Isabelle agreed, praising her godfather's work. She was glad that Hugo wasn't so distracted anymore. Actually, she was quite confused about why Hugo was so intent on doing everything his father wanted to do. The automaton was understandable since it was the only thing he had from his father, but why was he so disturbed by the fact that his father didn't get to be a magician?

_Another unfathomable mystery,_ Isabelle thought eagerly, _which means another adventure!_

She decided she would not mention it for now, since Hugo was so serious about the topic, but she could ask him later. Hugo, on the other hand, was back to his original self, chatting about the movie and how it was made. He mysteriously avoided anything related to the museum and stopped talking when there was nothing really left to talk about.

The two were arriving at the toy booth just as Papa Georges was closing up shop. He turned around and said, "Ah, there're the two little rascals! How was your day?"

"Great!" Isabelle said brightly. Hugo nodded in agreement.

"Well that's good," Papa Georges said, puzzled by Hugo's silence. He said nothing about it, and neither did Hugo. Isabelle changed the subject.

"Why did you close the booth so early today?" she asked.

"Ah, well, I didn't have the help of Professor Alcofrisbas here, so I eventually ran out of merchandise again," he said truthfully.

Papa Georges led the way home. They arrived at the apartment building, which was recently fixed to have a better exterior appearance. No one could believe these were the living conditions for the great Georges Méliès.

"Isabelle, if you would take out the key please!" Papa Georges said.

The Méliès home had a new keyhole made that was designed to fit Isabelle's heart- shaped key, which she took from her neck and gave to Papa Georges. The lock clicked and Papa Georges pushed the door open. Hugo slid through the entrance and closed the door gently behind him.

Mama Jeanne greeted her husband and the children with rolls and soup. Isabelle fervently described the day's events, from getting the new book to Hugo's card trick, going to the museum and finally watching Papa Georges' movie. Hugo stayed silent for most of the time, occasionally making a comment.

After the children finished dinner, they returned to their rooms. Isabelle stopped by Hugo's room and said, "Hugo… can I talk to you?"

"Yeah, sure…"Hugo said quietly.

The children let themselves inside the room. On the left was a workbench where Hugo made most of his things. To the right of that was the automaton, with the drawing it drew beneath its hand. On the right of the room was a small armoire and Hugo's bed. Isabelle pulled up a chair from a corner of the room and sat down.

"Hugo…" she started hesitantly.

"It's about my father, isn't it?" Hugo guessed.

"Yes, why do you act so surreptitious whenever we talk about your father?" Isabelle asked.

"It's a long story," Hugo said.

"Good, I like long stories," Isabelle said. "Can you tell me it?"

Hugo looked at Isabelle, think that she was acting in a patronizing way, but she wasn't. She was honestly concerned.

"Well… alright," Hugo said reluctantly. He took a deep breath.

"You know that my family specializes in horology. We come from a long line of clockmakers. I can't remember the last generation that didn't have anything to do with clocks. Well, my father thought that this was a restriction. He thought clocks were interesting, but working only in horology limited the potential of machines.

"That's why he was so excited when he came across this automaton. He'd always wanted to build his own set of automata, however hard it would be. However, his job kept him from doing that. When he failed to fix the automaton before the fire... did you- know- what… well, all his dreams obviously went up in smoke.

"I thought that since I fixed this automaton, I could maybe carry on his dream." Hugo pointed to the automaton by the workbench. "I could become a magician. I could break the boundaries of my family for the first time in generations. I could use the family gift and make magic with clockwork.

"Anyway, my father found the automaton. He told me one night that if we fixed him, we could become magicians, just as he wanted to when he was a child. The idea stuck- I couldn't get it out of my head. If we fixed such a complicated machine, we could become the greatest magicians in France. I brought the automaton with me to the train station not only because it was a possible companion… it meant that I didn't have to abandon my father's dreams. I held on tight to the idea, and when I fixed it, I realized that I had an opportunity. I could fix an automaton without my notebook, so what if I could build one, too?

"Then, I came to live with you and your family. Papa Georges created his own automata and has experimented with them before, so with his assistance, couldn't I make my own set much more easily?

"Today in the museum, when I saw the collection of automata, I saw one that my dad had told me about. Suddenly, automata weren't things of wonder to me anymore. They were reminders of why my father died. I'd insisted on him trying to fix it. My father was fixing the automaton at the museum when the fire started. My uncle came in the morning to tell me the news, and I…"

Hugo abruptly fell silent. Isabelle looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"_C'est horrible_," Isabelle whispered. "But don't be confused. I know that your father would've wanted you to go on and follow your dreams. After all, you have a golden opportunity right now. Seize it, because your dad never had this chance. No one can blame you for your father's fate. Yes, it was all fate and misfortune, not you. The best way to honor your father is to do what he did- don't ever stop dreaming." Hugo nodded in understanding, smiling tearfully.

And that was how the idea was set into action.


	3. Chapter 3: The Designs

Chapter 3: The Designs

It was morning again- Hugo felt embarrassed that he'd gotten so emotional last night. He dressed into his recently cleaned jacket and shorts. After washing his face and brushing his teeth, he knocked lightly on Isabelle's door. No one answered it. He guessed Isabelle was still sleeping.

Hugo entered the kitchen, where he met Mama Jeanne.

"My dear boy, what are you doing up this early?" Mama Jeanne asked curiously.

"I need to check the clocks in the station," Hugo replied. "I'll be back in an hour or so, I think."

He checked his watch, which said that it was around 5:30 in the morning. It was time to get going. Yesterday, Hugo was a few hours late since he was figuring out the card trick. Today, he could check all the clocks and be back in the house to meet Isabelle. She probably won't wake until about 7:00.

Hugo walked out the door and past the graveyard, which looked much less frightening than in the winter, when everything is covered in white. The ground would be blanketed with snow and ice. Now, warm sunlight filtered through the trees and onto the path through the cemetery. Hugo jogged to the bridge that crossed over to the station and enjoyed the peace and quiet of early morning Paris. The streets weren't full of cars, and no one was awake, hurrying to their destinations.

Hugo passed the museum and entered the train station. Here, only a few people walk around, waiting for their train. Hugo hurried over to the vent on the side of the wall about ten meters from the toy booth. He slipped inside and took his usual route into his apartment.

Hugo picked up his tools, running to the two largest clocks at the top of the tower, overlooking the city. He could tell that they were running fine. He went to the smaller brass clocks, though they were still quite large. They were overlooking the toy booth, the Inspector's office, and a few other places. He checked the time on the small dials in the back of each of them against his railroad watch and wound a few that hadn't been for a few days. All the others were running perfectly well, so Hugo left the apartment. He'd finished earlier than expected, so he decided to take a stroll of the station.

The bookstore was open, and Hugo took a look inside.

"_Bonjour, Monsieur Cabret!_" a deep voice said. Hugo turned around and saw Monsieur Labisse.

"Good morning," he greeted the librarian.

"May I ask why you are here so early?" Monsieur Labisse said.

"I just finished my job as the Timekeeper for today, and I finished earlier than I thought I would, so I decided to drop by. Are there any new books today?"

"Ah, yes," the librarian said. "Quite a lot of books only arrived two days ago, and I just finished sorting them into the different sections of the library."

"Do they…" Hugo hesitated before asking. "Do they include any books about machines? Or maybe books about automatons?"

"The section on technology is on your left, Monsieur Cabret," the librarian said, smiling warmly. Hugo thanked him and went to find a book about the parts of an automaton.

"'Automata of the 19th Century'… 'Modern Machines'…"Hugo muttered under his breath. "'Automata Fundamentals'!"

Hugo pulled the large book off of the shelf and showed it to Monsieur Labisse.

"Can I borrow this?" he said.

"Of course, the whole library could be yours if you wanted! Well, the bookstore practically belongs to Isabelle and I, since she's read nearly every book in here, but you know what I mean."

"Thanks!" Hugo took off, the heavy book under his arm. He ran outside the station just as people started to come in.

Cars flashed by and Hugo waited for a good time to cross the street. When no cars were visible, Hugo sprinted across, slowing down only when he was a good few meters past the other side. Then, he crossed the bridge and arrived at the apartment building. He knocked, and a happy, bubbly Isabelle opened the door.

"Good morning!" she said cheerfully. "Where were you off to in the early morning?"

"The clocks," Hugo answered, taken by surprise at Isabelle's energetic mood. Her curly, blonde hair was slightly ruffled and she didn't change out of her pajamas yet. Evidently, she just woke up.

"I see you've got a book," Isabelle said. "Finally finished reading _Robin Hood_ for the twenty- third time?"

"No," Hugo said. "Well, yes, but this is a book about how to make automata, not for light reading." He handed her the heavy book as he stepped inside and took his shoes off.

Isabelle took it and examined it, her expression looking slightly inquisitive. "This is infinitely convoluted! Do you plan on asking Papa Georges about this?"

"Of course," Hugo said. "I'll need all the help I can get, including Papa Georges and books- speaking of which, there's a new batch at the bookstore. Monsieur Labisse just sorted them into their sections."

"Oh, fabulous!" Isabelle said, back to her original mood. She was practically bouncing up and down. "Can we stop by there today?"

"Stay there a whole morning if you'd like," Hugo replied, shrugging. "Actually, I'll stay there with you. I need to get a dictionary and stock up on my vocabulary so I can understand what you're saying most of the time…"

Fortunately, Isabelle didn't stay too mad with Hugo for his vocabulary remark, since she couldn't figure out if it was praising her intelligence or saying that she was _too_ intelligent. Isabelle was in a relatively good mood today, and she recovered her overexcited mood in a short moment- Hugo was lucky.

The children had a quick breakfast and they were off to the station with Papa Georges. The two trips to the station were only an hour and a half in difference, but Hugo felt that the city of Paris had changed completely. People lined the sidewalks and cars sped along a busy road. Adults entered and left the frequent café here and there to order a mug of coffee. The mob of Parisians seemed disoriented to Hugo up close, and he was puzzled about how he ever imagined this crowd was like an intricate machine. When he was up at the giant glass clocks that overlooked the city, buildings with people swarming the sidewalks around it was similar to a gear, and the Eiffel Tower acted as the center of the machine, like the heart of the automaton.

Hugo, Isabelle and Papa Georges arrived at the station and entered through the glass double- doors. Papa Georges headed to the toy booth and the children went to the bookstore.

Monsieur Labisse was surprised to see Hugo back so quickly, but he realized the reason when he saw Isabelle follow him with an eager look on her face.

"Ah, Mademoiselle Isabelle," Monsieur Labisse said. "I see your friend has told you about the new books?"

"Oh, yes," Isabelle said excitedly. "Do you have any in the science- fiction section?"

"Yes, there are two new volumes in that section. One is called "The Jaguar with Talons" and another is "The Impossible Voyage".

The friends hurried over to the science- fiction part of the library. Hugo saw that "The Impossible Voyage" was by Jules Verne, but he hadn't heard of it.

"Have you read this book?" Hugo said, holding out the thick, brand- new book. Isabelle nodded her head.

"Yes," she said. "It was one of my favorites from my library at home. It's about a trip around the world."

"That's weird," Hugo said. "I haven't heard of it."

"That's because it was a play, not a novel," Isabelle said. "Someone changed the form of the text to a novel, like people did with Shakespeare."

"Okay…" Hugo said. "So if it's one of your favorites, why didn't you read it over and over again like your old Greek Mythology book?"

"Oh, but I did," Isabelle said, grinning. "But that was back when I was eight, so I memorized it by rote. But reading the book became too habitual and I was reading what I already memorized, which is rather inane… do you know what I mean?"

"Yes…" Hugo said. He picked up a dictionary. "… and no. What was it that you said again… _by rote?_"

"Hugo!" Isabelle exclaimed indignantly. She picked up a book that was, fortunately, thinner than most of the others, and the book found its way to the top of Hugo's head. "_Ferme ta gueule!_"

Hugo rubbed his head with an apologetic look on his face.

"Sorry," he said. "It was just a little joke…"

Hugo and Isabelle planned to take a stroll through the streets and see what was new. Today was Sunday, the day before school started again, so they wanted to find something interesting.

It was two o' clock in the afternoon when the two finished their lunch. They went out the front doors of the station and into the streets. There weren't many people wandering around. All the working adults- mainly owners of small shops that work on the weekends- were now behind a desk, doing paperwork or helping a customer. The surprising emptiness of the streets drew Hugo's attention to a man with a brown briefcase and a black bowler hat. He was putting a sign on a small building that said "For sale". Hugo looked at the building, and to his shock, he saw a word in faded letters on the glass window.

**HOROLOGIST**

Hugo walked over immediately and Isabelle followed, shouting: "Wait, Hugo! Where are you going?"

Hugo ignored her and approached the man. The man seemed nice and had a friendly expression. Hugo asked: "Is this building empty already?"

"No," the man said. "I was just going to clean up. I'm surprised no one cleaned the abandoned shop before now- it used to belong to a man named Monsieur Cabret, you know. Did you know him?"

"Yeah," Hugo said quietly. "I am- I _was_- his son."

The man had a sad expression. "You can go in if you'd like. Take a look around. Gather up what's yours."

Hugo nodded to show his thanks. He beckoned Isabelle to come over and they stepped in the shop.

Right in front of Hugo was his father's dust- coated workbench. Hugo's tiny mechanical creatures were still on it, frozen and waiting to be wound.

Hugo's father's desk was mostly cleaned up. There were still many clocks ticking away around his workspace, but it wasn't as Hugo remembered it. The wooden table wasn't littered with gears and cogs. No stray mechanical instruments were lying around. However, one piece of paper lay in a half- opened drawer.

The man from outside came in and saw Hugo picking it up.

"Ah," he said. "We found that sheet of paper and it had a very detailed design on it, so we didn't know what to do with it. As this man was your father, I guess you may keep it."

"A detailed design?" Hugo asked, utterly confused. It was just a blank sheet of paper.

Isabelle looked over Hugo's shoulder and said: "Flip it over, of course!"

Embarrassed, Hugo did as he was told. He and Isabelle gasped- a detailed sketch for an automaton similar to the one Hugo had fixed was shown. Hugo's father had scribbled some notes beside it, including: "Building instructions in notebook". Hugo was perplexed. Was he planning to show this to someone? If not, why would he write notes for himself about things that he obviously knew already?

Hugo spotted one striking similarity- the automaton had its hand raised above an imaginary surface, as if it were holding a pen. Hugo realized his father must've based this automaton off the one from the museum attic. Still, he must've tweaked several things so that it wrote or drew different things.

Isabelle scanned the paper. "Do you think this has anything to do with becoming a magician?"

"Maybe," Hugo said. "But it doesn't look like a performing automaton. It looks like Papa Georges', with a few changes. Maybe this time, it _is_ a note for me- he made it himself, so it's very probable. I think I'll have to try and build it."

Isabelle looked through the rest of the drawer and found the notebook mentioned in one of the notes. She flipped through it. "Again, this is all so complicated. I can't make a head or tail of these byzantine annotations and drawings, but you probably can."

Hugo took the notebook and looked through. There were detailed sketches of individual pieces and the moving parts of the automaton, such as pulleys and gear trains. Every so often, a complete sketch of the interior of the automaton would be shown.

"Will you help me to get Papa Georges and tell him about this tonight?" Hugo asked Isabelle. "I'll need a lot of assistance in building this."

"Yes," Isabelle said. "I think he'll be eager to work with machines after so many years without it."

The two left what used to be Hugo's father's clock- making shop after thanking the nice man. Hugo carried the notebook and the sheet with the overall appearance. Isabelle carried her new book under her arm with a slight smile on her face. Something exciting was going to happen when this automaton was finished, and both of the children knew it. It could be a note, another drawing, or maybe even ideas for automatons Hugo and is father would've used as magicians. Automatons seemed to be symbols that signaled the start of a new adventure… maybe something Isabelle could write about.

"Do you want to go into that café over there?" Hugo asked Isabelle as rain started to fall from the sky. Clouds had moved in around one in the afternoon. Isabelle entered the "_Café de appétit_" with Hugo right behind her.

A small band with an accordionist, violinist, cellist, and guitarist played a lively tune against a wall of the café. The customers listened, sipping coffee and tea with a croissant in front of them. Hugo took out a few coins and bought two mugs of _chocolat chaud_ (hot chocolate). He handed one to Isabelle and kept one for himself. Continuing to look through the notebook, he added, "This may have just been for his research, you know. How would my father have known that I would come across this?"

"Maybe he didn't," Isabelle said. "But you did, anyway. I think you should try to build it and see."

Hugo did have a lot of free time, and it was a perfect opportunity to study automatons using this design. However, he was still unsure. "Still, if it wasn't meant for me…"

Suddenly, Hugo reached the last page. There was a note that seemed as if it had been hastily scribbled.

To: Captain

Captain… wasn't that what Hugo's father used to call him?

Well, that's one problem solved.


	4. Chapter 4: Essays and Automata

Chapter 4: Essays and Automata

Throughout the night, Hugo tried to figure out how his father knew the notebook and the designs would come into his son's hands. Maybe he didn't- he could've been planning to give them to Hugo as a gift. Hugo just happened to stumble upon them upon entering the abandoned workshop. Eventually, Hugo fell asleep and dreamed of dozens of automata holding pens and their free hand holding their designs. They were writing on notebooks, and suddenly the automata looked up, each with Hugo's father's smiling face on them.

A loud knocking sound woke Hugo from his strange dream. He groggily opened the door.

It was Isabelle, fully dressed with her signature beret on her head. She looked as excited as ever. What for, Hugo didn't have a clue. Of course, being excited and happy was normal for Isabelle. Maybe she liked her new book.

"Hurry up, Hugo!" Isabelle said, excited. "It's nearly five o' clock! You have to tend to the clocks, help Papa Georges, eat lunch, try to build the automaton, eat dinner, continue trying to build the automaton, get Papa Georges to help you, and-"

"Okay, calm down Isabelle!" Hugo said, still feeling sleepy. Now he knew why Isabelle was acting so hectic today. Today was the day that he, Hugo, would start building the automaton that his father designed. "You realize today is a school day…"

"Oh, right," Isabelle said, pausing to think. "Well, wind the clocks. Then go to school, and come back home to build the automaton!"

With that, she left, heading towards the kitchen at the end of te corridor outside Hugo's room.

Hugo threw on a striped shirt and his old jacket, along with a pair of brown shorts. He made his bed and took a look at Papa Georges' automaton. The new automaton had to be somewhat close to this one. It's just the programming, the little parts that made the automaton do what you wanted, that were different. The rest (the parts that allow the machine to move and follow the programming) should be the same, as both designs have similar purposes.

Hugo turned back to the doorway and found Isabelle talking to Papa Georges at the kitchen table, presumably about the new mechanical man. The two had told the old man about the designs that they'd found, and they told him about their plans. Papa Georges was absolutely delighted, although he added that he was afraid age had taken its toll on his ability to create and build.

"Of course," he said immediately, his eyes twinkling. "Between you lot and me… let's just say I'm still the very same Georges Méliès, and I believe that I continue to possess a few _ruses_ up my sleeve in the world of machinery." He looked at Isabelle.

"Ruses are tricks used to swindle or hoodwink someone, Papa Georges!" Isabelle sighed, exasperated. "Am I the only person in this room who bothers to find accurate definitions of terminology that is scarcely used?"

Papa Georges gave Hugo a wink. Hugo grinned and said, "Come on, I'm going to the station. Are you coming today, Isabelle?"

"Yes, of course," Isabelle said. She picked up her book, which had a bookmark in the middle already, from the table and pocketed her heart- shaped key. Papa Georges stood up, saying: "I ought to be getting to my toy booth- I made many toys last night and I think everyone will like them quite a lot."

He slipped his hand into his coat pocket and pulled out a small figure of Hugo. The children gasped. Every single detail was included into the figure, from Hugo's signature brown jacket to his long, messy hair (which was now capped with a top hat). Papa Georges wound the figure up, and the miniature Hugo walked around, doing mini- sized magic tricks.

Papa Georges put it in his coat pocket again, and he led the two children to the train station. Isabelle smiled, amused, at the look on Hugo's face after they saw the miniature Hugo Cabret. She guessed, though, that she would react in the exact same way if, for example, someone wrote a book about her without mentioning their plans before.

Consequently, she kept quiet.

Hugo made his trip around the clocks as usual. This morning, it took rather long as many of the clocks had to be wound. Isabelle was finished another quarter of her book by the time Hugo was finished.

"This is some ingenious work," Isabelle said, closing her book shut reluctantly. "I never realized so much could be done with biology and chemistry. Do you think this would be more in the fantasy section?"

"I don't know," Hugo said, wiping the sweat from his brow after he finished the last clock. "Technology always seems to be growing. Maybe in a hundred years, they could actually create this jaguar with talons."

"That sounds fascinating," Isabelle said dreamily. "To create artificial life… that's kind of like your automaton there!"

"That's what clockwork can do," Hugo said proudly. He realized that the automaton would never be truly alive, and of course, so did Isabelle, but it had kept him company during those lonely months at the station before he found his new family.

Hugo and Isabelle went outside the station for breakfast and found the café that they went in yesterday. The same band was playing some lively tunes and a few people placed coins in a hat before the musical group.

Hugo bought a sweet crêpe with strawberries, while Isabelle ordered a _gallete bretonne_ topped with cheese, ham, and an egg. Hugo took out his father's instructional notebook and flipped through it once again. There were probably over a thousand different parts, and Hugo had to make all of them from scratch. He wasn't sure how fast he could build it completely, but Isabelle seemed positive that Hugo could finish it very quickly.

"You fixed an automaton burned to pieces in months," Isabelle said confidently. "You didn't have many tools or the right materials for the parts. You fixed it from windup toys. You can probably finish this one in maybe two months! First, you have Papa Georges to assist you, and you've had experience from last time…"

"But Isabelle, I still have to make every part from scratch!" Hugo said.

"Papa Georges took away your notebook for most of the time while you fixed his automaton…" Isabelle countered.

The arguing went on for a while, until Isabelle realized it was almost time for school. They had brought their textbooks and notebooks with them, so they headed straight to the school.

Hugo pushed open the door, letting himself inside, and a boy immediately greeted him.

"Ready for the second- to- last day of school, Ticktock?" The boy greeted Hugo and Isabelle with a friendly tone.

"Hello, Antoine," Hugo and Isabelle said together.

"Hey!" Another boy pushed Antoine out of the way. They seemed very similar in appearance, for they both had sleek, black hair. However, Antoine was taller. "You're much later than you usually are. Today, you're actually _on time_, not fifteen minutes early! That's a first."

"Come on, brother Louis," Antoine said, winking mischievously. "We'd better go collect our books! Class is almost starting."

The two boys skipped away, making a turn into one of the classrooms.

"I never figured it out- are Antoine and Louis actually brothers?" Isabelle asked curiously.

"No," Hugo said. When he came to the school, he was delighted to find that Antoine and Louis, his best friends, were enrolled at the school, too. They were so surprised to find him they forgot to call him Ticktock for the first few days.

"Come on, we'd better go to French class now," Isabelle said, leading the way through the school to the Madame Fleur's French classroom.

The class started with the usual "_Bonjour, les étudiants!_" said by Madame Fleur, and the reply, "_Bonjour madame!_"

The class then proceeded with a writing assignment. The students were given pens, ink, and parchment, and they could write anything of their choice. Isabelle stared at the parchment in deep thought.

_What should I write about?_ Isabelle thought slowly. _A mystery… a murder… a secret piece of parchment…_

She dipped the pen in the dish of ink and set it on the paper. Then, she began to write:

"_Once upon a time, there was a man named Monsieur Noir. He was always dressed in black, and he seemed to live entirely on his own. He had no friends, no family, and no enemies._

_ That changed one night._

_ Monsieur Noir was discovered on the floor of his apartment three days after he mysteriously disappeared from the streets of France. There was no sign of any skirmish except a broken cane that was said to belong to be him (a likely theory, as it was completely black), a torn piece of fabric from Monsieur Noir's frayed, black jacket, and a blank piece of parchment ripped cleanly in half…_"

Isabelle wrote for a long time, until Madame Fleur announced the time to hand the assignments in. She would read each of them and give feedback the next day. Isabelle handed her work in happily, as she'd finished a few minutes before time was up. Hugo, on the contrary, seemed frustrated.

"I was nearly done," he said later. Then, he admitted, "But having a giant mechanical dragon as a topic didn't really fit in China, which was my setting… what do you think?"

"Well, dragons are the national symbol of China," Isabelle said absentmindedly. She was thinking about her writing, and how Madame Fleur's feedback would matter a lot. After she received her French grade for this trimester tomorrow, she could see if she was fit as a writer.

_It's just a grade_, Isabelle thought. _It's not going to affect my whole career… what am I thinking? It would be nice if I receive positive feedback, but it's not that serious…_

Isabelle and Hugo went to mathematics, history, and geography. Then, it was time to go home.

"Come on, let's go see how Papa Georges is doing at the station," Isabelle said.

Papa Georges was closing up shop for the day. Through the metal grate, Hugo could see that there were no small models of him left. He took this as a successful day for the old filmmaker.

As Hugo expected, Papa Georges greeted the children with a radiant smile.

"Hello, children!" he said brightly. "How was your day today?"

"It was…" Isabelle started. Then, she looked at Hugo. "It was a pretty good day; geography was as boring as usual."

"Ah, yes," the old man agreed wistfully. "Never liked the subject much… I had to use it for my films anyway."

Then, he looked at the children, as if he wanted them to ask how his day was. Hugo realized this and said, "How's business at the toy booth?"

"Business is better than ever before!" Papa Georges responded immediately. "Everyone wants to get their hands on the Puppet Professor! It can do ten different tricks, you know."

"That's good to hear," Isabelle said. "Speaking of tricks- you said you have some for building the automaton?"

"Yes, that's right," Papa Georges said with a more serious expression. "We can start right after dinner, Hugo. I think we can finish within two months…"

Isabelle grinned at Hugo, mouthing, _I told you so._

Dinner that night was full of laughter. Mama Jeanne talked about meeting a stray cat outside the apartment. Papa Georges chattered about the success of his new invention. Hugo talked about the ever- so- boring geography class.

Finally, Isabelle mentioned her story. She explained what it was about, and she summarized the whole plot. The family was silent for a second.

"I wish you were the writer for all of my films!" Papa Georges said with a warm smile. Everyone laughed.

"Sounds better than mine," Hugo said, grinning.

"You could put drawings with it, don't you think?" Mama Jeanne suggested.

"Oh, but it's only a French paper," Isabelle said, embarrassed by the sudden praise.

"No matter," Papa Georges chuckled. "This story is worthy of being published! I believe you could be a successful writer as an adult- I only realized it when you wrote that story about Hugo and yourself. Now, you've proved it once again… of course, I would like to see the actual draft, too. I truly can see you as an author."

Dinner ended with more talking and laughing. Isabelle returned to her room, feeling very happy. Not only did she feel that her paper was good enough- she finally knew her purpose. It was a bit different from Hugo's concept, as fixing things and- metaphorically- people wasn't really a career.

Someone lightly knocked on Isabelle's door.

"Come in," Isabelle said.

"Come out!" Hugo's voice drifted through the door. Isabelle walked over and opened it.

"Don't you want to see me start building the automaton?" Hugo asked.

That's right. Isabelle had completely forgotten about the designs.

"Yes," she answered eagerly. The two friends walked into Hugo's room.

The automaton was moved to a corner of the room. The clockworks that were usually on the workbench were cleared off and placed into a metal bucket. The workbench now sat in the middle of the room, with the designs beside it.

"Papa Georges should be here at any moment," Hugo said, excited and nervous at the same time.

Papa Georges came in, looking just as agitated.

"I wonder what this automaton could do," he said anxiously. "It could write, draw, or do both… in the notebook there was an implication that the left hand was capable of pinching things… it could turn pages, we need a large notebook for it to write in…"

"Papa Georges, calm down!" Isabelle exclaimed amusedly. "You haven't even started building the automaton yet, you don't have to worry about all that!"

"True, true," Papa Georges said, calming down slightly. "I haven't worked on a machine like this for years… I have gotten a bit overexcited, I must admit. I'm extremely looking forward to looking forward to what it does…"

"That probably won't be for another three months," Hugo said.

"Don't be pessimistic- we don't have school," Isabelle countered. "I say two months… _at most!_"

Hugo shook his head slowly; it was as if he knew something Isabelle could not ever understand (Of course, it was usually the other way around, though saying that out loud would be much to Isabelle's consternation).

"_Cela est impossible!_" he replied tiredly.

Papa Georges chuckled and pulled over the bucket of tools and parts. Isabelle frowned and picked up a book that she would read when Hugo and her godfather started building the automaton.

"Ok, fine," Hugo sighed, giving in. He fished a few gears of different sizes and a few small shafts out of the bucket. Then, he picked up about a dozen nuts and bolts along with a hammer. Setting them down on the workbench, picking up his hammer, and readjusting the notebook so that he could see it better, he added: "We're aiming for two months."

With that, the clockworks and mechanics in his brain started to move.


	5. Chapter 5: The First Day of Summer

Chapter 5: The First Day of Summer

The last day of school was over. Everyone received their papers and their final grades for each class. Isabelle, of course, received excellent marks for French and all the other subjects. Hugo, though not quite meeting Isabelle's grades, was also satisfied with his work.

Madame Fleur had been most impressed with Isabelle's story. She guessed- and correctly so- that Isabelle had been reading a lot of Sherlock Holmes stories, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Still, she praised Isabelle very warmly.

"I always saw a writer in you, Isabelle," she said happily. "One always enjoys a short, immersing, perplexing murder mystery… keep up the good work, my dear…"

Hugo, on the other hand, did not receive as much praise.

"This was… an interesting plot," Madame Fleur said plainly. "I understand your fondness for machines, but a giant mechanical dragon in the rural areas of China? Fiction has limits, Hugo… I do appreciate your attempted use of a metaphor on page two…"

And that was all she said. Still, Hugo's mood was not dampened- he'd received top grades in mathematics, as he'd had a lot of practice while building the automaton and calculating measurements.

The pair met Papa Georges on their way home as usual and they greeted him with an unusually cheerful tone that was shared between both children. Then, on the way home, Isabelle pestered Hugo about his inadequate grades.

"Honestly, Isabelle," Hugo protested, rolling his eyes. "My grades in each class apart from mathematics are only second to you…"

"Not French," Isabelle said.

"Stop bickering, you two," Papa Georges chuckled, smiling amusedly. "You both did well. Hugo, you dropped out of school for a few months before. It's expected that you would have slightly lower grades than Isabelle."

"Yes, it's not a problem, you see," Hugo agreed triumphantly.

Isabelle crossed her arms, though she could not say anything more.

Hugo worked all night with Papa Georges, making gears and disks with hammers, pliers, and many other tools. They put several small areas of the automaton together, mainly the inner clockwork. Hugo would put the outer layer, a sort of metal cage, over it later.

Isabelle sat in a chair nearby, looking up whatever Hugo needed in _Automata Fundamentals_. She found a neat trick for creating a gear very quickly, and how to make sure all the pieces will fit perfectly. After Hugo and Papa Georges were beginning to have a rhythm in their work, Isabelle could put down the book and finish up the last few chapters in the story she'd borrowed.

"… The jaguar actually went back to the species where its characteristics came from! So it went back to where real jaguars live! Papa Georges, do you know what a jaguar looks like? You've made so many films about foreign places…"

"Looks like there's a bulge on the side of it, we should scrape it off," Papa Georges said. Isabelle looked confused.

"What?" she asked with a puzzled expression.

The old filmmaker looked up.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," he apologized. "I was talking about the gear Hugo was making… what now?"

The next morning, immediately after Hugo woke up, three words popped into his brain: _It's finally summertime_.

After many French essays, math problems, and history quizzes, it was time for relaxation. He could go to the movies anytime he wanted. Well, anytime he wanted, apart from the time he would spend building the automaton. He figured Isabelle was right after all. With all summer to build the automaton and no school, he could finish the automaton very easily in two months.

That's right- where was Isabelle? Through his window by the left of the doorway, he could see that the sun was already high up in the sky. He checked a clock on the wall, which told him it was seven in the morning already.

Hugo got dressed and left his room to check on Isabelle. He knocked on the door loudly. No one answered, and Hugo assumed that Isabelle was in the kitchen. After all, she couldn't sleep that late. Papa Georges should be leaving by now.

However, when he checked the kitchen, he only found Mama Jeanne there.

"Where's Isabelle and Papa Georges?" he asked.

"They left for the station already," Mama Jeanne answered with a smile.

Hugo went back into the corridor entered Isabelle's room. A stack of books stood by the door. Hugo counted four, one of which Isabelle had finished last night. The other three were hers that she'd taken off her bookshelf.

Hugo picked up the completed book, wondering why Isabelle still had the book even though she finished it. If she was at the station, couldn't she have returned it there and saved some trouble? Hugo bent over and picked it up. He noticed there was no bookmark- that proved that Isabelle didn't need it anymore. Then, he recalled something she'd said last night.

"I won't need this book anymore," Isabelle had told him, holding the book up. "If I read it again, there won't be that much… adventure… in it. The main thrill is just the new ideas, which I all know… I'll return it as soon as I can."

Hugo tucked the book under his arm, told Mama Jeanne goodbye and walked out into the warm, breezy, summer weather. He guessed that Isabelle would be at the toy booth, possibly helping Papa Georges. He would head there first. If she wasn't there, he could ask Papa Georges- he could know where she was.

Hugo strolled through the streets at a brisk pace, overtaking several adults who were going to work. Very quickly, he arrived at the station. He opened the doors, pushed past the throng of people, and arrived at the toy booth.

"Ah, Hugo," Papa Georges said, smiling. "I thought I might see you this morning."

Hugo asked, "Where's Isabelle?"

"I'm actually not sure," he said thoughtfully. "I would check the library if I were you- is that one of her books you're holding there?" He pointed to the book tucked under Hugo's arm. "She must've forgotten it. Well, off you go."

Hugo thanked him and went to the library. Among the mountains of books, he couldn't spot Isabelle. He turned to Monsieur Labisse.

"Greetings, Monsieur Cabret," the librarian said with a friendly tone. "What brings you here today?"

"Have you seen Isabelle?" Hugo asked.

"No, not yet," he answered curiously. "Why do you ask?"

"She wasn't at the toy booth and I just wanted to bring her on my trip around the clocks as usual," Hugo replied. "This is her book that she borrowed- she said she would return it… she forgot it at home, I'll return it for her now…"

Hugo handed the book to Monsieur Labisse. The librarian took it and looked out of the window. He pointed his finger.

"Is that her right there?" he said. Hugo spun around and saw a girl with a beret sliding down a ladder.

"Yes," Hugo said, amazed. Why was she up there? Could she be winding the clocks?

"Well, I suppose you've found her now," Monsieur Labisse said, smiling again.

Hugo sped out of the library and ducked into the vent leading up towards the Timekeeper's office. He ran through corridors, ascended up a staircase, and entered a door. He flicked a light switch, though he forgot (as he always did) that the single light bulb on the ceiling had burned out. He made a mental note to tell the Station Inspector that they had to switch the light bulb.

He traveled to several of the clocks- none of them needed to be wounded for another few days. That was odd- he was supposed to wind them today. That just proved the hunch Hugo had to be true- Isabelle had come to wind the clocks. He ran around, looking for his friend. He wanted to make sure that she didn't get her fingers caught in the gears or anything of that sort.

Hugo found an exhausted Isabelle leaning against the wall beside the clock that overlooked the Station Inspector's office.

"Isabelle, what are you doing?" Hugo asked breathlessly, coming to a halt.

"I saw you working on that automaton so late last night," Isabelle said, sitting up. "I wanted to give you a hand. So I wound all the clocks in the station."

"How did you check the time?"

"I… er… borrowed your railroad watch."

"_You entered my room without knocking?_"

"Yes, and then I proceeded to do your job for you."

"Okay, fine. How did you know what to do?"

Isabelle raised an eyebrow.

"Reading books does teach you things, you know," she said. "And I think watching you do it for seven months helped slightly, too."

Hugo sighed. "Thanks, Isabelle. You're alright, aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm fine… I just have a little headache and my arms are sore. A bit of food would help that, I guess."

Hugo pulled Isabelle up, and they walked back to the Timekeepers' apartments.

"By the way, I returned your book for you."

"_You entered my room without knocking?_"

"You weren't even in your room…"

"Okay, fine. Let's go get some breakfast."

The sun's heat literally baked the streets, as it was now around eight- thirty in the morning, and the children didn't feel like going outside. Hugo asked Madame Emile for two crêpes and two glasses of milk. Isabelle noticed that Monsieur Frick sat next to her, their dogs playing by his feet. One accidently bit his trousers. Monsieur Frick made a strange face and let out a squeal of some sort.

After having breakfast, Hugo and Isabelle took a stroll through the station. They passed Lisette, who was selling some flowers to a young man. Antoine and Louis flew by- Hugo had no clue why they were in the station. All of a sudden, Hugo bumped into the Inspector Gustave.

"Good day, Hugo…" he said, readjusting his blue cap. Then, he turned his head sideways. "… and Christina Ros- I mean, Isabella."

"Isabelle," the girl corrected politely.

"Yes, that's what I meant," he said quickly. Maximilian the dog whined, sitting by his side. "It's actually very fortunate that you two came along, really… I need someone to talk to… come on in to my office…"

The two entered the room. Hugo looked around- the place was so familiar. The cage on the right was empty, and the key for it by the table was slightly dusty. Hugo took this as a good sign that the cage had not been used for a long time.

"Sit down, please," the Inspector said. Then, he realized there were only two chairs.

"I'll stand," he said. The children sat down, looking at each other.

"Where to start, where to start…" Gustave muttered. "Well, I have a little secret that-"

The phone nearby rang. The inspector muttered something in rapid French and picked it up, turning his back to the children.

"Hello?" he asked. Then, he frowned. "Oh… it's you. No, I'm not unhappy at all to talk to you. Honestly… what's that? Your wife came back for an hour? Well, that's an improvement… and you're quite sure she's yours? No? Her nose is longer? You think so? Okay, good luck sir."

"My apologies, Hugo and Izzy," he said.

"It's Isabelle," Isabelle said again.

"Right you are," he said. "Now, I have a little secret." He leaned in.

"Do you know Lisette the flower girl?" he whispered.

"Do you fancy her?" Isabelle piped up.

"What?" the Inspector shouted. "That's absurd! Well, yes… a little. More than a little- I like her quite a lot, actually, to be honest."

"That's why you haven't caught any orphans lately," Hugo inferred.

"Yes, and that's precisely what I've brought you here to talk about," the Inspector said. "She hates it when I catch orphans. Did you see the look on her face when I caught you? That, and the fact that the toy seller claimed to be your guardian, convinced me to let you go. Now, I can't do my job." He leaned in close again.

"I don't want to do my job anymore."

Hugo never thought the day would come; the day when Inspector Gustave would actually regret sending dozens of orphans to the loathsome orphanage. Much to his surprise, however, he didn't want the Inspector to quit his job. Isabelle spoke first.

"You can still do your job," she insisted. "Just don't be so _vindictive_."

"Watch who you're calling vindictive!" the Inspector said. Then, he stopped. "Er… what does vindictive mean again?"

"You're being vindictive when you're yelling at orphans, chasing them, grabbing them by their shirt collars, and throwing them into a locked cage," Hugo explained.

"Well, yes," the Inspector admitted. "I am a bit, er… strict… at times."

By noon and after a few croissants, Hugo and Isabelle finally convinced Inspector Gustave that not yelling at homeless children was not as hard as it seemed. They left the office and headed home to work on the automaton.

When they entered Hugo's room, Isabelle saw that many of the different parts of the automaton were already put together. A pile of unused gears, bolts, and disks lay on one end of the workbench.

Hugo sat down, examining each part and comparing them to the notebook drawings. After a quarter of an hour, Hugo announced that each part was correctly built. Isabelle went into her room and picked up one of the three books by the door. She opened up a thick book with a weathered, brown cover and began to read out loud, as if they were on their daily inspection of the clocks.

Hugo worked all afternoon, and meanwhile, Isabelle read from her book. She stopped reading aloud after a while- her voice was getting a bit hoarse. Finally, when Mama Jeanne came in and asked them if they needed a break, they both got up and left the room.

"Making that automaton seems so strenuous," Isabelle said. "Aren't you tired?"

"No," Hugo replied. "It's actually quite fun to do… for me, at least."

Papa Georges came back early today, since- as he expected- his profits rose significantly.

"It's because all the children don't have school and they can buy my latest toys," he explained cheerfully. "You know, you're both right- I like summer the best, too."

Dinner that night was, as usual, a jovial one. Papa Georges followed Hugo to his room. He was delighted to find that Hugo had made great progress on the automaton.

"You're a genius, my boy!" Papa Georges exclaimed. "Did you check everything?"

"Every single part," Hugo and Isabelle said in unison.

"Good, good," Papa Georges chuckled. "At this rate, building the automaton can't take longer than a month!"

Meanwhile, Mama Jeanne stood outside the door, listening. She heard her husband's laughter and smiled. Times have changed. They were no longer living in poverty, and they were a happy family once more.


	6. Chapter 6: The Journal

Chapter 6: The Journal

A month had passed since the beginning of summer. Every time Isabelle walked into Hugo's room, she hoped that he would announce that the automaton was finished. To her, it seemed like it was already, but she didn't know that much about machines. Hugo always said something didn't seem right and he would spend the whole day finding it, taking it out without damaging the rest of his work, and fixing it. Eventually, Isabelle just stopped checking his progress, for she knew that Hugo was just being very picky. It would be a while before the automaton was finished in Hugo's eyes. In Isabelle's eyes, it was finished a week ago.

Papa Georges stopped helping Hugo build the automaton one day. He said that it should be Hugo who delivered the final touches.

"It is his father's design, after all," he explained. "The machine rightfully belongs to him, so he should be the one to finish it."

It was a sunny day near the end of July, and Isabelle brought up the subject of the automaton as the two friends walked through the station after making the trip around the clocks.

"Are you ever going to finish that automaton?" she asked.

"Yes," Hugo answered. "I will soon. But something about the notebook is bothering me."

"What is it?"

"A few pages before the outer layer instructions are blank."

"Well, that's just unused paper."

"The inner clockworks have a few spots that seem suspicious, too."

"Really? How so?"

"It seems like… it seems like it isn't complete. There're a few parts that are unnecessary and probably won't be used."

"We'll find out when we finish the automaton."

Hugo looked at Isabelle, looking embarrassed.

"To tell you the truth," Hugo said slowly. "I finished building everything a few weeks ago. It's just this that's been puzzling me."

"What!" Isabelle exclaimed. "But if there aren't any more directions, what good can you do?"

Hugo shrugged.

"I thought I would figure something out," he said. "But I guess not."

"So we could've tried to see if the automaton worked a few weeks ago?" Isabelle asked, slightly exasperated that they had waited for so long just because of some blank pages in a notebook.

"No, there's still the key," Hugo said.

"Oh, right… did you study the keyhole at all?" Isabelle inquired.

"Yes," Hugo answered. "It's basically a circle with an unusual shape sticking out under it."

"Do you think you might've seen it before?" Isabelle said as they arrived at a bench, deciding to sit down for a while.

"No," Hugo sighed. "Even if I did, I can't possibly have it."

Isabelle groaned and slumped down onto the bench, disappointed.

Dinner ended with discussion about Hugo's missing key.

"You're looking for another key?" Mama Jeanne asked, still not quite sure what was going on.

"What looks like a strange shape sticking out at the edge of a circle?" Papa Georges said, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

"It has to be related to your father somehow," Isabelle noted.

Hugo stayed silent, thinking hard about what the key's shape might possible depict.

"Why wouldn't the notes have the actual key drawn?" Isabelle complained.

"He forgot, possibly," Papa Georges said.

"Could it have been at the burnt down museum?" Mama Jeanne suggested.

"The museum!" Hugo said, leaping up. The others jumped, bewildered.

"What is it?" Isabelle asked, excited.

"That night," Hugo said, straining to remember. "The fire- I was at home myself- I was studying some of Father's things… my pocket!"

He ran off to his room. Isabelle followed him quickly, giving her godparents a puzzled glance and shrugging.

Hugo was sifting through a drawer of mechanical junk. The occasional rusty gear would show up, but Isabelle couldn't see anything else clearly. Suddenly, he brought up a small leather bag.

"I put them in my pocket that night when my uncle came to fetch me," Hugo explained breathlessly. "I was looking at them as I waited for my father to come home. I brought them to the station and I saw none of them were heart- shaped, so I put them away."

"Wait, slow down," Isabelle said. "Are those…"

"Keys, yes, they're keys!" Hugo said, opening the bag up to reveal dozens of keys.

"Why are there so many?" Isabelle asked.

"Most of them must be for some of Father's other things, or spare keys," Hugo thought aloud very rapidly. "But one of them- just one of them- might be the key we need."

Papa Georges came into the room with Mama Jeanne.

"Now, now, children," Papa Georges said, chuckling. "We may be older than you are, but we can't resist the excitement. What is going on?"

"Hugo may have just found the key," Isabelle said as Hugo searched around the small bag. He brought up one excitedly, then frowned and dropped it on the bench beside him so that he wouldn't get confused with it again.

After a minute of silence apart from the jingling of keys, Hugo shouted, "I found it!"

He brought up a small golden key. Everyone leaned in close to see the shape.

It was the man on the moon, with a shining rocket flying towards it from below.

"How…" Papa Georges stuttered.

"It's my father's favorite movie," Hugo explained quickly.

"Quick," Papa Georges said to Hugo. "Get a notebook for it to write on." He motioned towards Isabelle. "Fetch some ink!"

After a short time, everything was in place. Hugo placed the key into the heart of the machine and turned slowly.

The clockworks of the automaton gradually ticked to life. Movement spread from the center from the machine to the outer parts. Gears shifted, pulleys were activated, and disks spun around. Hugo and the others watched with fascination as a still machine sprung into life.

The hand holding the pen finally moved, inching towards the ink dish. Then, it moved back and began to write.

_December 1929_

_ Hugo visited my workshop a lot this month. I noticed recently that he's been watching me closely. He built several little mechanical creatures, all of which I now display on my workbench._

_ I discovered a fascinating artifact in the attic of the museum today. I used it as a guideline and started designing an automaton that writes a journal of mine- a journal that you (the reader and discoverer of the designs) are currently reading._

_ Weather is not so pleasant- a meter of snow has been building up outside the workshop every week and I sometimes have to shovel my way out._

Hugo laughed at his father's humor. The automaton continued to write journal entries like this, in which Hugo's father talked about things his son did (things that he remembered quite fondly and longingly), movies that he'd watched with Hugo recently, the weather, and some mechanical discoveries that he'd made. Most of all, he talked about his progress on the mysterious automaton from the attic of the museum.

Soon, Hugo began to see less of "today's weather was rainy" and more of "we finished a part of the automaton". Monthly entries soon became weekly, and then every other day. The entries were something like:

_October 20/21__st_

_ The automaton is nearly finished! Mysterious heart- shaped key continues to puzzle us._

Suddenly, near the end of October, the automaton clicked to a stop. It leaned back and it was still. Everyone was confused, and then Hugo realized something.

The fire happened at the end of October.

"Hugo…" Isabelle started, tears forming in her eyes as realization hit her. Papa Georges sat down on the bed and looked at the still automaton wistfully and sorrowfully at the same time. Mama Jeanne sat down with him.

Hugo swallowed painfully.

"It was never finished."


	7. Chapter 7: Drawing Lessons

Chapter 7: Drawing Lessons

That night, Hugo couldn't sleep. He thought of how his father's mechanical journal fell short because of his untimely death. He couldn't seem to find a comfortable position and eventually gave up. He lit a candle nearby with some matches and picked up a Jules Verne novel.

After reading a few pages or so, he turned his gaze back to the candle. The flickering flames reminded him of the tragedy from so long ago, fire licking at the edges of a broken window. He imagined the ruined building, like the charred wick of the candle…

Suddenly, he heard a voice in his head. Startled, he dropped his novel onto the bed.

"Follow the example."

At least, Hugo thought it was in his head. It was much like the voice he'd heard that'd told him to fix the automaton. That had been a bit more straightforward.

"What example?" Hugo thought silently.

No one replied (mercifully for his sanity) so Hugo returned to his book.

"_Look here, in this notebook," the professor said. "This is an example of the climate beneath the crust…"_

The notebook! That was the example the nonexistent voice was talking about. But what did it mean?

"Follow the example."

Hugo thought a bit, sighed, and leaned back. He couldn't think about anything now, for he was still recovering from the upsetting results of the automaton. Not that it didn't work- it's just that it reminded him of some horrible times in his life. They were things that he'd tried to forget… yet things that he didn't wish to forget at the same time.

Hugo closed his book shut with another sigh. He blew the candle out, leaving himself in complete darkness apart from the light from the pale moon, streaming through the window and spilling onto the smooth, wooden floor. Staring at the moonlit streets of Paris and the dark sky, he imagined a face on the moon.

_The man on the moon_, he thought.

That somewhat comforted him, and he finally fell asleep.

"Good day, Monsieur," Isabelle greeted the Station Inspector as he passed by.

"_Bonjour, Mademoiselle Isabelle,_" the Station Inspector said back. Maximilian just barked loudly.

The weather outside was rainy, and the air felt humid. Hugo hadn't gotten up yet, so Isabelle had a little time to do whatever she wanted by herself. However, with the horrible weather, "whatever she wanted" was a rather limited set of choices.

With nothing to do, Isabelle found a bench and sat down. She pulled out a notebook with a smooth, cardboard surface. She kept her notebook in her pocket at all times.

Should she write about some recent events? No, she's done that a lot. Yesterday's events were a bit uncomfortable to talk about, anyway. There was something she'd always wanted to try doing, and it was drawing. She'd seen Hugo do it in art class, and his art was nothing short of amazing. It was like he'd taken the image in his mind and transferred it to the blank, white paper. Isabelle had tried, and she was decent at it. She had to admit she didn't try very hard in that class, since it didn't really have anything to do with books. But ever since Mama Jeanne had suggested putting drawings with her story, she'd gotten an idea. It was a brilliant, wonderful idea. It was to put drawings _in place _of certain parts of a story. She tried to think of a term in her mind once… a "picture novel".

She'd been thinking about getting Hugo to do it for her, but now she was getting other ideas. What if she could do it herself? She looked in front of her, at the large pillars, the stone floor, the bustling crowd, and the large glass windows.

Taking out a writing utensil, she raised her right hand just above the left side of the notebook page. Then, pencil met paper as one tentative stroke slowly progressed across the page.

_The floor_, she thought.

Then, she drew the pillars, rising up from underneath the line. She erased the places where the lines intersected and crossed.

Slowly but surely, things and details were added to the picture. Several people were added here and there, a steaming train occupied one of the previously vacant tracks. Shades and shadows were added, and suddenly, Isabelle was left with something she was quite unaware of being able to create.

"Did you draw that?"

Isabelle looked behind her. Hugo was looking over her shoulder, studying the intricate drawing Isabelle had created.

"Yes, I drew it while I waited for you."

"That's a really good drawing!"

"Thanks, but it's not as good as yours," Isabelle said modestly.

"I can teach you to be better than me if you'd like," Hugo said shyly.

Isabelle thought hard- it was something she'd always wanted to do, and now she was going to learn how to do it from her best friend. It sounded like a little adventure to her. She took up the offer.

The morning passed, and the two children were left with nothing to do in the afternoon. Hugo decided to get some paper out and they would start sketching something together so that Isabelle would get the feel of drawing. They looked through a few of Isabelle's books and chose a small photograph of the exterior of a theater. Hugo started lecturing Isabelle.

"You always want to start simple. Start with the basic outline of the major, large objects first, and then you can base the position of the other objects off the main objects."

And so Isabelle drew a large rectangular prism with some smaller shapes on it that would eventually become the signs and windows. Then, like Hugo said, they drew some more buildings on either side of that. It was as if the picture was gradually expanding from the center. Soon, the rough sketch was completed.

"Now," Hugo said. "Since the light is coming from the sun, the tops of the objects have to be brightest. You have to see which side the sun is on- the sides of the objects that are turned away from the sun have to be the darkest."

He went on and on, explaining about shadows, details, scale, and other useful things he thought Isabelle ought to know. He told her tricks for making sure something was symmetrical, techniques for shading, and even making up some part of the drawing such as adding pedestrians on the streets and birds in the sky to make it look more realistic.

Before they knew it, the drawing was completely done. It had taken them a few hours, but with Hugo's help, Isabelle had something she never thought she could ever create. The drawing of the theater looks almost exactly like the photograph except for their little additional details.

"Well, I have to say we're off to a good start," Hugo said, grinning. "And you knew most of the things that I told you, didn't you?"

"Yes," Isabelle admitted. "Thanks to art class at school and books from the library, yes, I do."

"Isabelle," Hugo said slowly. "I have a question for you."

"What is it?" Isabelle asked.

"Do you-"

"DINNERTIME!" Mama Jeanne yelled from the kitchen.

"Let's go," Hugo said quickly. Isabelle was a bit confused, but she followed him into the kitchen anyway.

Isabelle leaned against her pillow, picking up a book. She pressed the switch on her night table lamp, known as the "_Petit Champignon_" for its mushroom- like figure. Hugo had bought the lamp for Isabelle as a birthday present, since she liked to read into the night. Papa Georges and Mama Jeanne didn't know what it was for- Isabelle doubted they would let her read that late at night if they knew.

Suddenly, she heard a dull _thud _from Hugo's room. She jumped off the bed swiftly, ran outside the door, and knocked on the door to Hugo's room.

"Come in... ow..."

Isabelle pushed open the door. She saw Hugo lying on the floor beside his bed, rubbing his head in pain. She rushed over and kneeled down, panicking slightly.

"Hugo! You're not hurt, are you?"

"No, I'm okay," Hugo said, wincing as he sat up. "I had a nightmare and rolled off my bed, somehow."

Hugo had gone to bed earlier than Isabelle tonight, so he'd fallen asleep long before Isabelle started to read her book.

"What was the dream about?" Isabelle asked, her worried expression disappearing. It was replaced by an amused grin. "I can't imagine anything that's scary enough to frighten _you_."

"It's a dream I've had before," Hugo said sleepily, flattening out his thin, white nightshirt. "Just last night. But it's nothing much, really."

Isabelle knew he was hiding something, but she didn't ask anything else about his dream. It could be something personal and something that she didn't need to know- she already knew several things that Hugo would be uncomfortable with telling anyone else. However, another question had been bugging her all evening.

"Hugo," Isabelle started cautiously; Hugo looked up, listening. "What was that question you wanted to ask me earlier this evening?"

"What question?" Hugo said, apparently forgetting what he wanted to ask due to his drowsiness.

"Um... never mind," Isabelle said quickly, deciding not to press any further. "Good night, Hugo."

Hugo smiled languidly, his eyes half- closed and clambering back onto his bed clumsily.

"G'night, Isabelle."

Isabelle walked out the door and quietly shut it behind her. Stepping back into her own room down the hall, she paused and pondered over what Hugo had just said. She thought Hugo wasn't telling her something, and he wasn't planning to tell her anytime soon. It was truly frustrating; as good of a friend as Hugo was, he could be so _surreptitious _all the time.

Meanwhile, Hugo's eyes were wide open as he lay in bed. He thought about his nightmare, and how he'd rolled off the mattress and onto the cold, wooden floor.

The nightmare had happened before; dozens of automata were sitting at their desks, and when they looked up, Hugo's father's face was on each and every one of them. Then, a loud thud echoed throughout the walls of the room in the scene. Smiles curved downwards in shock as a blazing fire erupted from the ground and engulfed the shouting automata.

A tear rolled down from Hugo's eye. He got up and out of bed again, walking over to the window, barefoot and trembling. He pushed the soft, silvery curtains apart and the moonlight streamed into Hugo's bedroom through the tall window. Again, he looked to the man on the moon for comfort. Bitterness turned bittersweet, tears of sorrow turned to tears of remembrance, and Hugo finally found consolation that night.

**Author's Note: Hello readers! This is my first Author's Note ever. I'm sorry for the delay in continuing the two stories. None of them will be discontinued anytime soon!**

** I would like to thank all those who urged me to continue the stories. I set a goal to upload a chapter to this story before 2013 arrives (before 12:00 P.M. EST), so here it is! A new chapter for Golden Trio will come in the new year.**

** Speaking of which, Happy New Year!**

** The BFG **


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